Breast Cancer Study Could Change How Early Growths Are Treat

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

Have you ever felt lumps under the skin on the sides of your neck when you were sick? Those might be lymph nodes. They can get swollen 1 and painful but their job is to fight infection. Lymph nodes are part of the body's defenses known as the lymphatic system.

当你生病的时候你是否曾感觉到脖子两边有肿块？这些可能就是淋巴结。生病时淋巴结会肿胀和疼痛，但它们的功能就是对抗感染。淋巴结是人体防御体系淋巴系统的一部分。

This complex system throughout the body makes and transports a protective fluid called lymph. Lymph is made of white blood cells, proteins and fats.

遍布人体复杂的淋巴系统能制造和传输淋巴（又称淋巴液）。淋巴由白细胞、蛋白质和脂肪组成。

In a patient with breast cancer, the cancer can spread to the large number of lymph nodes under the arm. Doctors have traditionally removed many of these lymph nodes in the hope of removing all the cancer.

在乳腺癌（即乳腺肿瘤）患者中，癌细胞会蔓延到腋下大量的淋巴结。医生传统疗法会摘除大部分淋巴结，以消除所有癌细胞。

But the latest research finds nothing to gain by removing so many lymph nodes.

但最新研究发现，摘除这么多淋巴结并无益处。

Doctors have two choices when breast cancer starts to spread. They can do what is called a sentinel node biopsy. They remove the main growth and one or two lymph nodes nearest to it.

当乳腺癌开始扩散时，医生有两种选择。医生可以进行“前哨淋巴结活检”，摘除肿瘤及肿瘤邻近的1~2个淋巴结。

Or they can take more aggressive action and remove a lot of lymph nodes. But that can lead to shoulder pain and permanent swelling 2 of the arm.

或者，医生可以采取更加激进的策略，摘除大量淋巴结，但这样会导致肩痛和手臂永久性肿胀。

Dr. Armando Giuiliano at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, was a leader of the study. He found that a sentinel node biopsy can be enough to eliminate all of the cancer. And the patient does not need to stay in a hospital to have it done.

美国加州圣莫尼卡市约翰韦恩癌症研究所的阿曼多·朱利亚诺（Armando Giuiliano）博士是这项研究的领导者。他发现，（摘除）前哨淋巴就足以消除癌细胞。同时病人不需要住院就能做这项手术。

Dr. Giuliano and researchers at other American cancer centers studied almost nine hundred breast cancer patients. In each case, the cancer had spread to no more than two lymph nodes.

朱利亚诺博士和美国其它研究人员对近900例乳腺癌患者进行了研究。这900例病人中，癌细胞都没有扩散到超过2个淋巴结。

Half of the women had the traditional surgery. Doctors removed an average of seventeen lymph nodes. The other half had the simpler operation with just one or two nodes removed. Then both groups received radiation treatment and chemotherapy drugs.

一半的患者接受传统手术，医生平均摘除了17个淋巴结。而另一半患者接受了同样的手术，仅摘除1~2个淋巴结。然后两组患者都接受了放疗和化疗。

Doctor Giuliano says rates of survival five years later showed that the less invasive operation was just as successful as the more aggressive action.

朱利亚诺博士表示，五年后的存活率表明，仅摘除1~2个淋巴结的这种微创手术和摘除大部分淋巴结的激进手术同样成功。

ARMANDO GIULIANO: "The five-year survival was about ninety-two percent regardless of which operation. And, wonderfully, women who had the sentinel node biopsy alone did just as well as the women who had the more radical 3 operation."

朱利亚诺：“不管是做了那种手术，患者5年存活率都约为92%。更令人欣慰的是，仅做“前哨淋巴结活检”的患者和摘除大部分淋巴结的激进手术的患者疗效一样。”

The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Some experts say the findings could change the way surgeons treat early breast cancers that have spread to the lymph nodes. But other doctors say they want more proof before they make a change.

这项研究发表在《美国医学会杂志》上。有专家表示，这项发现可能会改变对已扩散至淋巴结的早期乳腺癌的手术治疗方式。但也有医生表示，在改变治疗方式之前，他们希望看到更多证据。